On the Record: Charles County w/ Cheryl Butler-Walker (Pt. 2)

In this episode, host, Carlos Childs is joined by, former Charles County Commissioner candidate, Cheryl Butler-Walker as she shares her insights on local governance, the importance of community engagement, and the challenges of political leadership in Charles County. She discusses her recent election experience, the concept and failures of the charter form of government push, and the future of economic development in the region. Cheryl and aCarlos also discuss community development and the importance of accountability in Charles County politics through her position on the Democratic Central Committee.

Cheryl Butler-Walker:

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hello, everybody. Hello, everybody. Welcome to the left-handed left fist. You all, I am so, so, so incredibly happy to have you all back here with me today. This is gonna be a stellar episode. We're gonna be talking about the Charles County election that just recently happened, the primary election, issues going on within Charles County, and kind of an election recap/slash here from one of the uh former candidates. Uh, we're gonna be talking about a myriad of different topics throughout throughout this election, what things surprised them, what things didn't, uh, how they felt about how the race went and what they're looking forward to in the future as well. So, with that, joining me for this incredible conversation as my special guest slash co-host for this episode today. And you all, well, real quick before I do the intro, let me know what you all think. Do you all prefer me calling uh the people who come on the show guests or co-hosts? I'll let you all decide. But joining me as a co-host andor guest, uh, whichever one you all choose to call it, is Cheryl Butler Walker. She is the former candidate for the Charles County Board of Commissioners for District 2. And with that, you all, before we get started, as always, remember to like, share, subscribe, comment, and also hit that notifications button so you can get alerted every time we drop a new episode right here on the Left-handed Leftist Podcast. And with that, let's get started. What is up? What is up, peoples? You all Cheryl Butler Walker. Glad to have you back on the Left-handed Leftist Podcast. Whoop whoop, how are you?

SPEAKER_02 1:40

I'm doing fantastic because I'm with Carlos Childs. What could be better?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

There we go. What can't be better? What can be better besides you with me and me with you here? So already we're starting off top level now. So I wanna, before we get into how everything transpired with the election, I want to first ask, how are you and your family doing with this crazy, smoky, weathered, weird, wildfire Canada air that we're breathing out here right now?

SPEAKER_02 2:05

We're staying out of it. That's what we're doing. We're staying out of it. I'm keeping my grandkids out of it. I'm gonna go religious, but I'm watching God answer a whole lot of bad behavior. And so I'm just gonna keep the family out of that until this too shall pass.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

There we go. Amen. So, cause it is, yeah, this weather, I actually was supposed to be doing something for work yesterday. They had to cancel just because of the weather. Everything outside has been crazy. It really also just highlights the climate change that were going in, wildfires happening left and right. Because I remember what, wasn't it just last year they had the other Canadian wildfires and the sky was like orange for a period of time too?

SPEAKER_02 2:42

So was very complimentary of where we are today, the orange.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

But there we go.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Yeah, it it it was that. I tell you, in my industry, we even closed pools yesterday. If you had an outdoor pool, it was closed yesterday. So communities for the most part didn't even have access to the pool because it was purple. The the weather was purple, so we just uh for health reasons, safety reasons, the boys decided they would close their close their pools.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

I feel like bad weather.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Bad weather.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Horrible, horrible. It's even people reporting that ashes falling from the sky in some places. I'm like, you know what? Wherever that is, I don't need to be there. So I'm glad I'm right here where I'm at, and hopefully it clears up within a few days or so. But that is not the the reason for the season for this podcast episode. So I am one so glad that that we talked, we talked before the uh election kicked off, but we also talked on election day as well. I know you had some stuff you wanted to come on and talk about. So before we fully get into everything, I want to first ask, how are how are you doing with the election results? Unfortunately, you weren't the winner. You came in a really close second place that I will say a lot of people did not expect from a first-time candidate coming in running against what you had, uh, a current mayor of Indian Head, you had a former commissioner and commissioner president, you had people from like the Proctor family running, you had a whole, you had a school board member you're you're running against as well, and a a com community activist as well. You ran against all those people, were in the first spot for a while, and then as votes uh trickled in fully, you came to a really close second second place. So, how are you overall feeling with everything?

SPEAKER_02 4:20

I'm really feeling good. I'm feeling good. Um, I had an amazing team. We did something in four months because I put in my name in the hat the last day in February, I think it was February, that uh you could apply. And in those four months, we did something amazing, as you um alluded to. It was a 46 vote difference. We sat down maybe about two, three days later, to determine what could I have done differently. Because what we did realize is that this Charles County, as I said early on, is not the Charles County of before, that this Charles County is trying to figure out how to grow responsibly, how to move itself into a more certain economic development. They're interested in how do we make a better place for all of us to live, no matter where we live. How does a Schmedium county take better care of its constituency? That was the message, and I've got to say that it translated properly and that uh the community heard it and 46 uh votes different. There was the answer. Now I do want to take this opportunity to send a clear apology to one area of District 2 because I did not go to Indian Head, Maryland. And I should have, because one of the things that I had said early on was, you know, I didn't have a commission to come to my door at any point in time, before, during, or after election. I just didn't. That is the truth of the situation. There's no reason to try to suggest anything that was not. And I was her in that moment. Ooh, God. I was her in that moment because I didn't go to an area that I know still needs things that I believe that the town of Indian Head should not be the offspring of a naval base, but the naval base being a partner to the actual town itself. And I didn't get down in Canvacket. Why not? I'll I'll tell you a conversation that I had with Brandon, whom I want to be clear that I respect a great deal. I think this is a young man who has did his level best at trying to bring equity to an area that is small in size, but that doesn't make you mighty in size, right? So I think that what he did was stepped up to the plate young and he did he did good things. There's no two ways about it. Is there lots to be done in India here? Absolutely. There's lots to be done in Indian here. There are some things in Indian here that today you may not have thought about yesterday, and then you wonder, you know, could was that the best choice to make? So, but that is with everybody and everything that we do. That's not a Brandon Paul and issue. That is human nature to make a decision, scratch your head later and say, huh, maybe I should have done this differently. So why didn't I go to Indian Head? What many people, well, no one really knows, but those that are closest to me, Brandon and I stayed pretty close. We did breakfast in Indian Head. We talked. Um, we understood that there was an assignment here. And I'm not sure, you know, how he would feel about it, but it's coming from me, so I'd like to believe that he would be okay. We understood as taxpayers first, because before you're anybody's political anything, you're a taxpayer, right? So as taxpayers first, and then as uh community activists, leaders, politicians, all of those things you can kind of put together, we made a decision that when we looked at the landscape of who we were running against, this race had to come down to he and I. It had to. Responsibility was between us two. Consciousness and awareness of what was needed for District 2 really came down to what I believe he and I were saying. They were different, but they were both equally important. And for me, a 12-year taxpayer, educated in infrastructure development and community, I believed this time told me clearly that if I had to not win, I had to still do that to someone who would be responsible enough to hold the ball and move it in the right direction for all of us. And I believe it was him. I don't believe that the other candidates met the mark for me. They didn't. And I wouldn't mind saying that because I just said it. But I don't believe that they met the mark for me. And I think that we're gonna be okay for four years. I do. I've not decided what I'm gonna do in four years, but I'm watching very closely, and I even shared that with Brandon. I said, listen, you gotta, you, I want you to be ready because I'm going to be paying attention and I'm going to be demanding all the things we're talking about right here at breakfast. He said, Absolutely, Sharon. I'm gonna call you if I kind of tilt to the left or the right too far. And I I have an expectation that that's gonna happen. So, so where I am today is I am excited that it is brand. And I do believe that it landed in the right place because it was he or I. I'm gonna say again, yes, I do believe that I was the absolute better candidate, but I hurt myself by not taking on the full footprint of the district. And for that, I just as always trust God for all things. And uh yeah, I think that we're okay with it.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Awesome. If you if you could go back and do it again, would you go into uh the town and campaign? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 9:47

Absolutely. I I I think that again, the town has some things, but can the town be better? Absolutely. This town, many people may not know it, but my grandmother used to live in a town called Havity Grace. And in the 70s, I would go to Havity Grace, which is also in Maryland, too. It is close to It's in Hartford County, right? Okay, the thought just passed me. But anyway, it was a really small town, just like Indian Head. And even then, it it just it really mimics what Indian Head looks like and feels like today from 1970. This is the 21st century. May Berry is for television only. So what do we need to do? And so, yes, I would go there. I would, I would do what I've said in the campaign and everywhere else, that um the job of a good steward is to not make the job or reinvent the wheel. We do know that Montgomery County does things well. Let's get the things that they do well and bring it. We know that Prince George's County, despite what people say, despite it, Prince George's County is a powerhouse. You may not like his politics, you may not like his politicians. Prince George's County is a powerhouse. If there is any intellectual savvy in Charles County, it is going to rely on its direct neighbor to pull all that is good and make it work for a Schmedium County on the rise up. Because Charles County will never be just simply teeny tiny Charles County. The population in this area will not allow it. That means that Indian Head has to do its part to contribute economically, it has to do its part in terms of affordable housing. Bryans Road has to do its part economically, it has to do its part as far as community, because a Schmedium County cannot depend on Waldorf to feed and clothe itself through eternity. It can't. I'll tell you what I've said on the campaign is that we have failed those who have been in charge, in my opinion, of District 2, starting with a Deborah Davis of eight years, starting with a Thomas Cena Coates, and these are the ones that I know. And forward. This is an example of stewardship not taken, in my opinion, full scope and seriously. I'm gonna throw Edith Patterson into, and it's not for kicks and giggles, it's for seriousness, right? Here we have commissioners, a commissioner that's gone on to Annapolis and delegation. We have another commissioner who has quietly sat down for the remaining part of their service and stewardship to my Thomas and the Coates in that position, right? The challenge that I have is this. I have to work in Maryland and all counties across it, and I'm watching. And one of the things that I've said about District 2 on that western side of town, which is, of course, Brian's Road and uh Indian Higgs, what a failure. What a failure leadership has been. That a whole national harbor is standing. And we are 15 minutes from jobs, from uh economic development opportunities, and no one has thought the wiser to do it. I'm gonna give a serious example so people don't think I'm just blowing smoke from the other end of my dress. The sphere is here and is coming. Thank you, Prince George's County, who again I will tell everyone, despite what you say, they are a powerhouse. If you moved here like I did from Prince George's County, we know why we moved, but it didn't mean that Prince George's County wasn't a leader of in terms of lessons to learn, whether they are good, bad, or indifferent. That is our direct neighbor. That that is where the rubber meets the road, where we share the lights, cameras, and actions, literally, 210, 5. That is what is going on. Anyway, back to what I'm saying. The sphere is here. It will have 10,000 permanent jobs, not a data center, okay? Where the jobs really don't exist and somebody's really trying to blow smoke up the other end of my dress, right? That is non-existent. That is a farce. I don't support it. It doesn't make a difference for me if I am ever elected again because I'm a taxpayer with a hell of a salary or my full-time job. No sleep loss. But the sphere is different. The sphere is 10,000 permanent jobs. Here is what I can tell you from what I know. Those jobs are not gonna allow for any of those, for the majority. I'm not gonna say any, because I don't know that for sure, but I can tell you that 90% of them will not be able to live in a national harbor. That's a fact. I'm in a national harbor, it's not happening. 90% of them are not even gonna be able to live in Prince George's County. That's a fact. Because despite, again, Prince George's County's powerhouse statement that I make, that economic value allows them to bring their equity of their homes up, which means the cost of the homes go up. Can't live. A lot of people can't live there. That's why everybody's running around with their like a chicken with their hair cut off looking for. But we have it. I'm gonna say it again. We have it. We have it. For everybody living in Bryan's Road in Indian Head, they should know that if they should decide to live in any of the newer homes on Bryan's Road, you can. Because your home has equity because 10,000 new people are coming to live, and they may be able to afford what you are in now, which will propel you to go to something that you've just been thinking about, maybe even dreaming about. But guess what? No one has put us in a position to capture those opportunities. No one. We don't even have a hotel 15 minutes from where these folks gotta work in Brian's Road to put them up temporarily until they find a home. We don't have, we've not had the forethought to put temporary housing in place, which is a hotel, you know, transient state, so that they can even get to know Charles County to look at the entire landscape to decide where they want to live.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Not even a long-term Airbnb, a verbo, no.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Here we go, right? So where have we been all this time that we have allowed economic value to leave us in this county if it doesn't fit in the footprint of Waldorf?

SPEAKER_00 16:20

And I'll even say to that point, too, you look at Waldorf, Waldorf's struggling when it comes to hotel, everyone complains about how Waldorf, there's no nice, nice hotels. And I feel like throughout the county, a lot of people talk about how everything goes into Waldorf. But if you talk to the residents of Waldorf, then we're not happy with what comes into Waldorf. It is all these shoddy hotels, chain, chain store restaurants, chicken places, nail salons, and things and things of that nature. And then when residents request something high-end, they are always so, well, you don't have the foot traffic. Well, you don't have the people. I'm sorry, you can't tell me Annapolis has all these wonderful restaurants, stores, hotels, and things, but at the but they have a population around 30, 40, 40,000. Waldorf having a population of around 8200,000 people, and we can't have just the the just the moderate luxuries of a well-off city in the wealthiest black county in the entire country?

SPEAKER_02 17:14

You can't. And and the answer is simple. The answer to these things are simple. Who did you elect to represent your interests in Annapolis? Who did you elect to represent your interests in on the commission? Who is gonna make up your Democratic Central Committee that is gonna set the agenda for what the Democrats will do in your county? All of those things make a difference. But above all else, I'm gonna say this because we're in this uh archaic government, which is home rule, which is the most ridiculous thing, and we're gonna talk about that today, Carlos Charles. Yes, definitely. Because I'm gonna explain it to the people, and I don't want you to cut it up, chop it up. I want you to send it out just the way I said it. Okay. Because I'm gonna give a a short and sweet educational lesson for everybody who's stuck in the past history of Charles County. And so we can't get these things done because it takes our delegation, who you elected to go to Annapolis to go there and work for you. What do you mean by that, Cheryl? I was in a forum kind of update something during the election. And uh at that space was giving the update was Edith Perry. Not Edith. Edith Patterson, Edith Patterson, Edith Edith Perry is a good friend of mine, and when I think about hard work, that's who I think about. So there's there's the good Edith, and that's Edith Perry. So keep that in mind. The one good Edith. I love Edith Perry. Edith Patterson was there along with Deborah Davis, and they were giving the update about what happened in Annapolis. Edith Patterson said from her mouth to my ears, you know, Prince George's County aligns themselves with Montgomery County and, you know, other counties, they just align themselves and they walk away with the lion's share of the money. We just kind of get what's left. I could have threw my purse across the room. I could have threw my purse across the room that other counties will align themselves and pull out the big bucks, and Charles County gets what's left. No one, let me tell you something. No one can tell me that we chose as a county to elect anyone who thought it would be okay for us to get what was left over. And what was left over is a quote. What was left over. Now, there were other people in the room that certainly can say, Cheryl heard what she heard. And that's what was said. Could it have been that the the good delegate chose bad words? Maybe, but the definition and what it means is still the same because guess what? We're not coming out with a lion's share, anything, right? And so when you talk about, we might as well get into the government, the archaic government of home rule, which is absolute ridiculousness at this stage in the game. I'll tell you why specifically for everyone who doesn't know. Charles County, when it comes to money, has to go to the delegation in Annapolis to receive approval. That means, ladies and gentlemen, neighbors and friends, when you're paying your taxes and you're paying the salaries of everybody who works here to include your commission, Annapolis is saying how that money will be spent. Let's all pause here, check our pause to make sure that Cheryl is not going crazy. I'm asking you to look up for yourself, teach yourself home rule, and why it doesn't work. One, for a county that is growing so exponentially, and two, why it fails us when it comes to our own taxes and how we should be regulating how it goes. Now, I was at dinner with two um community leaders here on Thursday, and we we had the discussion, and one of them said, Cheryl, I I just I love uh a home rule because all the stuff in the charter, we can make it a part of the home rule. Okay, but what you're not gonna make a part of the charter is how you're gonna spend your money. That you're not putting that in there. You have no capacity to do that. So anyone who is on the fence, new or old, to suggest that a charter that allows the county to draft it to work for you makes no sense. So let me take it another direction. One of a chartered community, a chartered county is directly next door to us, Prince George's County. Let me tell you the foolishness, and it's foolishness in my senator Joanne C. Benson voice, just foolishness to believe that the charter doesn't work because we don't want to be our neighbor next door. Want to say this three times because they say three times is when it hit. The charter of the county next door is not the problem, it's who the people. The charter next door is not the problem. It is who the people elected to enforce it. One last time for the people just tuning in. The charter next door is not the problem. It is the people who chose the elected officials to enforce it. Did I beat Daphne Dale?

SPEAKER_00 22:23

You got, hey, you got it. And my biggest thing when people talk about, oh, we don't want to be Prince George's County, I my mind has different boxes. I put that in. One, I put it in kind of the box of they're not the only charter county in the whole state. There are multiple charter counties. I don't hear any of them say, well, we don't want to be like a Montgomery, a Howard County, a Frederick County, all these other counties that are also charter counties. But I also look at it from a race perspective, too, because there's a lot of people who try to target Prince George's County and say, oh, well, we don't want to be like them over there. And then they also siphon in, we have a lot of Prince George's people who are moving in. They're trying to make us just like, just like that county and all their problems. Let me tell you, Charles, Charles County will be lucky to have the economic development that Prince George's County has. We'd be lucky to have the services, the hospitals, the even even the protections for renters, even though it's lacking in Prince George's County, we would be lucky to have half of the stuff. And also, I would say this is somebody who does a lot of political activism, we'd be lucky to even have the the level of just political knowledge and like activism that Prince George's County has, of having these rallies, having, holding, holding their uh people accountable. And I'll even say to your point when it comes to the to our uh delegation, which is so different that we have here than than uh the other counties have, is that our delegation, really the only time you hear from them in the public is if the NAACP holds their uh delegation forum after session, talk about here's here's what bill passed, where uh where it talks about here's what money we brought in, here's things, things that happen. Outside of that, you don't really have delegates or senators in Charles County ha holding events, doing things to inform the county of what's going on. I'd I I would be hard-pressed to find residents who even know what type of bills the our delegation puts in. I'll even take out on behalf of Charles County residents, just in their own day-to-day operations. What kind of bills does Edith Patterson, Deborah Davis, C.T. Wilson, or uh Arthur Ellis put up, or even now Daryl Odom and um Kevin Harris? Most people don't even know what they do, what type of bills they do, what committees they uh sit in, which is so different when you look at other counties where their delegation comes out all the time. They they host back-to-school drives, they host uh town halls to talk about the bills that they're doing up. They actively get residents from their area to show up to bill hearings, which we don't even see that here either.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Yeah, there's something to be said there. But I'm gonna tell you professionally, this is I apply it, my parents applied it. We only get what we demand. At this point, you don't even you can't just ask someone to do something. We get what we demand. If we demand those folks that we've trusted with that, with our taxes and uh decision making, what makes our lives better, we don't demand that they come out and see us then. Where are we, right? And so you're right. In the other counties, it's happening. They are turned on the entire time they're elected. They're turned on. And there should be some expectation that that is the same here. Because I have I work throughout all of the counties primarily, especially the big ones. I'm often in conversations with uh leaders of different counties and uh in Annapolis, and we have such good conversation. There's a thing about your delegate or senator saying, I'm gonna be here. And um I just want to kind of talk to see what you all are thinking. Is there any legislation you would ask us to propose? That happens in real life. Other places to include right next door. So it is it is Montgomery County, who is probably one of the more polished and well-functioning counties. I say Prince George's County is a powerhouse because their uh economic development can't be touched in my mind. They're always with their finger on the pole. I mean, they just there waiting to jump to get the body.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

Like it's good, bad, or indifferent.

SPEAKER_02 26:14

Yeah. And so, but Montgomery County is a lean machine. Um they are definitely economically sound. They are a full throttle machine, if if if I if I could say it. The way they have put themselves together, there is no doubt about it that their constituency is first. You can just watch the news and hear it. I'll tell you, just in my business, uh Montgomery County has a bank that is specific to HOA's, the common ownership, right? It's called the Green Bank. They have a division that is dedicated to common ownership. Uh, and so does so does Prince George's County. I mean, they they are these are counties who have decided that whatever we have to do to stay in front of our constituency and have them to bel to know that they are first, whether they do it all right, that that I what what can you do? I don't do everything all right. But the fact that that they continue to try to get it right is what is important to me. And so for me and what I do, I'm a community builder. I need a county to do what they are doing, have some place of recourse for these folks who have purchased homes, right? Likewise, they also have divisions for apartments, landlords. There has to be recourse, and not just in name, but in action, in accountability, holding people accountable, holding developers accountable, holding landlords accountable. We are lacking in those places, right? We are out here in the wild, wild west that things truly aren't functioning to the capacity in which it should. And while I have the not too far behind in this conversation, I'm gonna say it again. These are the things that a charter stops. The charter is gonna hold you accountable. The charter is gonna tell you what you're gonna do and what you're not gonna do. You can get elected, but you're gonna do these things, okay? You're gonna get elected and you're gonna handle our money this way. The charter does that, where home rule doesn't. Home rule says a whole bunch of friends get together, talk crazy, and here's here come the rules, okay? So I just wanna be clear. So I if I'm not decided if I'm gonna run again. I'm not decided that. But if I do, I already know that those people who are willing to remain in a in a space where someone else is controlling the purse strings of the taxpayer, I am not your candidate. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Right?

SPEAKER_02 28:51

I am not your candidate. I am fully after living in a county where I can vote in and out a person who doesn't do their job. Right. And your job to me is to make sure that I don't get a 40% recordation tax all at one time because you didn't understand that budgeting means we we we reserve for for folks out here that are in common ownership communities and under they understand the reserve. We sprinkle a little bit more each year, one, two percent, just to make sure that we're good in case something falls apart. So to be hit like that. June of 2025, when the new administration came in, not knowing what it will be, but really knowing what it was going to be. We all knew, right? And here we are strapped. I was at this same dinner with the leaders that I was with, and we were talking about did anybody open up their tax bills? Now, this is a very tough time for the active adult community. That's what we call seniors, so stay with me. The active adult community. For them to open up their tax bill and be shocked at $8,000 is horrific for them. Why did it happen? This is what my response was to them in this conversation, though, it was active adult. This administration has denied the state of Maryland the federal funding that we have gotten forever. We don't have it. Um, but that money has to be accounted for because it is used to absolutely operate this great state of Maryland. Um, love your governor or not, the governor must do what is necessary, whether you like it or not. He must do what is necessary. Do I do I agree with everything that the governor does? No. But I am trusting him for what is necessary. I'm trusting him for what is necessary. Necessary is we've got to find this money to keep us going in the great state of Maryland. So your tax bills for me is about that deficit that happened due to the federal funds that we were always able to rely on. It doesn't make it better. It doesn't. But what I'm going to say this to my active adult communities is that I want you to challenge your bills at assessment and taxation. Because when these when these taxes come out and these things happen, no one is thinking, oh, but this community is fill of active adults who are living on Social Security in some retirement. It doesn't do that. It it sends out what it is, and that is what it is. So I'm going to say to them, definitely, please, you know, take the time, do your research, go to uh assessment and taxation and try to find some recourse because certainly even the ones that I've come in contact with, they can't take the $8,000 hit. I don't see that the governor is going to fight those particular individuals. And I know this to be so because he has done great work for uh act of adult community. So that's what I would say about that. That's why our tax bills, in my opinion, has risen to the numbers that it has. And I'm not, I'm not gonna fight that. My response to that is get up every day, go to work, make it happen. Right? That's my response. We will revisit this in three years to determine after knowing that those funds that we have counted on forever from the federal government is back intact, then we can deal with what happens next. All my opinion. Everybody has their own.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

Yes. And I'll say maybe, maybe not, the federal funds will come back because we've seen in previous administrations where once, well, I'll kind of say it here, where you could have Trump leave and then the next president come in, maybe be a Democrat too, and they not fully restore things to where they would be, or or even capitalize on things being destroyed, of like not just rebuilding to where things were, but but expanding government and helping people more. I mean, also to the Westmore point, too, a lot of people have been talking about why Maryland is not trying to move in similar fashion of California and do wealth tax. Maryland is one of the highest concentrations of millionaires throughout the whole country here. So there are there are definitely ways that can be maneuvered. So we're not just putting the burden on the active adult community. I love that phrase too. I haven't heard that one before. Uh so definitely, I want to kind of like circle back though to charter. One of the things is that a lot of people are looking now and say charter is a dead issue. It's not gonna happen because what, this is the third time it's been on the ballot. Uh, it has failed every single time. For you, because you you lay out a great case about why we should have charter. You mentioned how our funds that come in should not be handled by by the delegation. You said a perfect how delegate Edith Patterson came to a forum and said, Look, we take what was left over, we take the scraps, we take what's a given, which to me is even if that's true and that's how things work out, where's that fighting spirit to like, but we're going back next session and we're gonna get this money, we're bringing as many residents as we need to to these meetings to say we're demanding X, Y, and Z. For how long we've been talking about getting Southern Maryland Rapid Transit, and it still is something that people look at and say it's probably never gonna happen. But what do you look at as some of the reasons why Charter has not just failed all these other times, but most recently, when you had the most public push of it, why it failed then as well?

SPEAKER_02 34:13

This is a good one. This one is a shout out to Greg Waring, who I met personally on a campaign trail, who I've been. Friend of the podcast. I'm I'm loving Greg Waring, I'm loving for a lot of reasons. But this charter conversation, he and I had a really good conversation in deathly heat outside, but it was one that I'm excited that we had. I represent a lot of active adult, uh, not active adult, but a lot of communities here even in Charles County. And I'll tell you that when I'm in those rooms and we're having meetings, I'm always honest and up front with uh my clients, clients being your neighbors and communities. I I'm I'm gonna tell you the truth because there's no reason to do anything different. I didn't support the the charter. And as I told Greg Wearing, I didn't support the charter because I didn't support the messenger. Not him, but I didn't support the messenger, the one that came to me, and I'm not gonna say uh this person's name, but uh I didn't support it. I did not like how it was delivered. It seemed agenda-driven from that particular person, and I was clear. I went to my community and I told him emphatically, I don't like it. I don't like the charter. Here's why. I don't think it's going to go, it's gonna fly, and it didn't. Now I'm not saying that I have this all power or whatever the case may be, but uh Greg, he challenged me. He said, Sheryl, but I mean, this would have changed everything. Are you really saying that just because of that, I am? Because if the messenger is no good, then the message to me doesn't exist. You can't just say whatever you're gonna say to me because you're actually in the messenger, is telling you what their intent is. The messenger is telling you what their intent is. If your intent doesn't align with what I believe is the betterment for me and my neighbors up and down my street and in my community on my side of District 2 and all of District 2, it doesn't pass. It doesn't. I want Charles County folks to understand this. Had I been elected, every single thing I would have done in District 2 would have positively affected this entire county. That is a fact. I can tell you that is a fact. When I listen and hear and read and research, I've been around and I am in a position where I'm around personalities all day long. I learn to read them quickly, figure out what they're telling me, if it's true or not, and make a decision. The charter did not work for me. But this is what I told Greg Waring. I said, Greg, here is where that moment failed. This was the fail of the charter. That when it failed the third time, everybody just threw up their hands and was like, it's never going to work. Honey, we have more people who continue to run for office knowing that they're not gonna make it because they are gonna keep on at it until they absolutely get it. There is a thing about human nature that says, if I believe in something or I want to do something, I'm gonna continue to do it until it is done. When my dad taught me how to ride a bike, I fell down, scarred up my knee on my purple bike. They didn't have bike pads back in the 70s. They ain't had it. So you you down on the asphalt, you get up, it burns, it's dirty, get on the bike and keep going. Right? I made a choice. I wanted to ride the bike because everybody, all my friends could ride their bikes, and they would ride from Forest Heights in uh Prince George's County to Birchwood, and we would meet up at the field, and everybody would eat their lunch. Good times, best times, but I did it. So I didn't stop trying to learn to ride the bike. I figured out how to ride the bike. What lessons were learned the three times the charter failed that we have not gone back to the the drawing board and said, okay, here's where we lost them. People thought the, what did they say? The charter was a school. Okay, we got a problem with communication. Give me another one. Give me another one.

SPEAKER_00 38:04

People, people had an issue with well, actually, the having, what was it, having the Sheriff's Department come out against it, the fire department come out against it, having the uh teachers' union also come out against it.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

Stop right there. Stop right there. Because this is going to be important. I'm sending this shout out right here to public safety. This is to the sheriff, this is to the fire department, this is to everybody. Here's here's some quick history. Before our neighbor became the mammoth of Prince George's County, it was a schmedium county like this one first. Everything grows in size, yes? And so there came a time where volunteer fire stations could no longer be the only way. And here's why. We can't tell a volunteer, you're gonna be, you're gonna deal with this fire, you're gonna be there in this many seconds, and you're gonna have all your certifications, you're gonna do all that. We can't tell a volunteer that. You cannot. They are volunteers. So when a county grows this way, for everybody in the county who has just moved here over the last seven to ten years, there is no career station that I know of in Charles County. We are run by volunteers. And when you're running by a volunteer, you have things like what I saw in the campaign when one of the uh candidates came in on a crisp, clean firetruck, sirens blazing, holding up their sign, yelling, vote for them. You will never have your tax dollars used that way on a career fire station. It will not happen. It will not happen. So for everybody who is going on and on and on about public safety and we don't want public safety, listen, write the charter that says, I'm okay with Troy Berry and the sheriff gang. If that's what you all, if that's what we agree on as a county, that we don't need a police station and a sheriff, I'm okay with that. If that is what the majority of the people say, if that is what they say, how do we find out what the majority of the people want to do, Cheryl? That this is not rocket science. I mean, my God, there is uh what are those surveys, kind of ways for us to figure out what the majority want. People ways, right? So there is no reason for us to say we're not moving because we can't find out certain things. It is ludicrous to believe that at a hundred seventy, 180 people, I mean, we we're so we have really surpassed the infrastructure, and yet we're still with volunteer fire. I lit I let me be clear to the fire station here that I chaired the largest fire station, to my knowledge, here and maybe all of the state of Maryland. Did it, did it well. I put in new mattresses, I put in gym gems inside of them, I put in ACs inside of them, I bought the dog that the foundation did. So I want to be clear to public safety that I absolutely, wholeheartedly support what you do. Mr. Walker is a retired DC firefighter, full stop. I get it. So I'm not talking out the other side of my dress. I'm telling you what I know. I'm telling everybody who pays taxes here in Charles County if we have a really serious issue with the numbers that we have here in this county, and our volunteer fire station closest to it has decided they have gone offline. We're in trouble.

SPEAKER_01 41:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:33

Period. We have passed the tiny county option. We're not the tiny county anymore. We're not the small county anymore.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

So, Cheryl, let me ask you on that fact too, because let me say you're gonna get a lot of, you're gonna get a lot of pushback from EMS who who are or not yet, EMS of Fire who have always come out and say that they do not, they have, they have even pushed back against the county commissioners currently who have tried to push for a paid uh fire service here. What do you think is the reason that they hold that line? Because I've personally never understood it. I'm actually trying to get some people from the fire department to come on because I've never understood why volunteers would say, I just want to be volunteer. I don't want to have the opportunity to be paid. But then also at the same instance, you have they also advocate for things like tax relief so that they can buy homes here in in this county as well. So so it kind of doesn't make sense to me for. Yeah. What do you see as the or what have you heard from as the reason that they are are so strong and um hellbent on on staying only volunteer?

SPEAKER_02 42:37

See for me, for me, I believe there's only one reason. I get to do what I want. I get to live in this this building, you know, raise money for food, maybe get some some money from, yeah, the taxpayers, because that's where it's gonna come from, too, right? The county's gonna give us some money. We're gonna live in here. And uh, yeah, we're gonna go on a call every now and again. That that that's that's what I think. I think that uh there is space for a career and volunteer station. We know what it looks like, and they know what it looks like too. If you, I would say to you, a good conversation is to have a have 10 career firefighters and 10 volunteers in the same room. There is the answer. Because the the difference, in my opinion, between the two, because I am grateful to volunteers. I really am. But what I want is guarantee for my family. I want guarantee safety for my family. I want to know that whomever is pulling out of those bays, sirens are blazing, or even an ambulance, that you have all necessary certifications. They are up to date. And if this county gets it wrong, I will see, see you and sue you in court. That is what I want. I want some form of Of guarantee, some form of it. And I don't think that that's too much to ask for for anyone. And if, in fact, public public safety is so strong-wheeled that a piece of paper that consists of the desires of the majority of the taxpayer is that much of an issue, then we need to look at who is who is leading that that cause. Because this is not about us versus them. This is how do we become better. This is not a this is not a us versus public safety. This is how do we live in this county holding each other responsible. The fire department says, make sure that you have smoke detectors in your home. The fire department and public safety says, through the state of Maryland, have your seat belts on. We're doing that, and we take these precautions to make sure that they don't have to run the call. And I'm saying to them, the same way that you all have stipulations and laws that you have put on us as taxpayers, as a taxpayer, I want the same for you. I want a guarantee that when I walk into that fire station, everybody's certifications are up to date. I want to know that the white shirts are going to all the necessary conferences to be where they need to be to make sure things are going the way that they're supposed to. That is what I want. And I can't, I can't imagine you bringing someone else on this call and them saying that they want something different. I think again, everything comes down to the messenger.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

Definitely.

SPEAKER_02 45:29

This is my message.

SPEAKER_00 45:30

And I'll even say, kind of, kind of running out the fire department conversation, is that as my family has always said, is you pay for what you get. And I don't want to see a situation of it's just a whole bunch of people who who are volunteers and they look at, you're gonna give however I feel then to put out that fire, whether I feel like doing it or whether I don't, there's no kind of financial thing that's keeping them like, oh no, I'm gonna be engaged, I'm gonna do my job because it is how I make my living, is people who say I could leave this or take this if if if if I feel like it. So that that's always just been the odd point for me with the whole thing. But going back to kind of running out the conversation on charter, you said that what kind of cut uh stopped you from from supporting it last time was was the uh the one person who you kind of felt like was doing it from their own personal agenda. What are some of the things that that that person said that made you feel like that, that this was just their own personal thing rather than a community-based thing?

SPEAKER_02 46:28

Because I don't want those in view to use what that person did to find a new reason not to support the charter. What I will say is for me, that person didn't support the charter. They supported their own individual agenda. That's the same thing. Any examples you can give?

SPEAKER_00 46:46

You said any examples you can give just about like just some of the things that seem more personal or just more they supported their own personal agenda through the charter.

SPEAKER_02 46:54

Yeah, I think that uh that they they saw themselves in in in in government. They saw themselves in government. And I that's not that's not what I believe the charter is about. The charter is about crafting a way of life for us. That's what it is. It's just it's crafting a way of life, how we live harmoniously and that we are going to elect leaders to oversee that harmonious effort on paper. And I did not believe that that is what I was getting from that person. And I'm gonna tell you something. I had a huge um in my dining room, it sits quite a few people. And we were loaded in. And I'm telling you, we were here to one o'clock in the morning screaming to the top of our lungs, charter, no charter, this person, that person. And uh it was a good time. It's always a good time when I'm with my sisters. Shout out to the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. It's always a good time. And so that was a a good experience too, just to have that dialogue that we have when we're together. And so all of those things for me, again, the messenger is everything. The messenger will suggest to us if this is someone that we can support. And it also tells us about where they are. And my hope is that throughout everything that I've done, I'm crystal clear that I'm looking for, yes, a better Charles County for Cheryl Walker and her whole Walker family. And I'm also looking for a better Charles County for every single neighbor and friend, and even ones that I don't generally align with. I want us all to simply live better. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 48:30

Nice, nice. So uh thank you for that. And kind of last two kind of topics is is going back to this election. One, I uh meant to say this before. Congratulations for winning a seat on the uh Democratic Central Committee as well for District Two. So um I remember with this conversation, you said that uh you and Brandon Pollins sat down multiple times, had lunch, and talked about how you two saw each other as the the best two candidates out of the bunch. What was it about you two that you saw as the best candidates and why didn't you see the other candidates as uh would be good to serve as as commissioner?

SPEAKER_02 49:10

I knew why I was running. I was running truly for uh the betterment of District 2. District 2, as I said, has been really dealt a devastating blow for years. It has it has lacked leadership and it has done it intentionally. I have to believe that it was because no one could could oversee an area, a large footprint with no gas station, no medical, no grocery store. You cannot not unsee that. Like you can't.

SPEAKER_00 49:37

Not even indoor plumbing.

SPEAKER_02 49:40

You cannot be how, right? I I mean to to have that is is just to to see another area that is struggling, even trying to get economic development. And if I could, just if you could give me just some grace here.

SPEAKER_00 49:57

You're talking about Nanjamoyle, correct?

SPEAKER_02 49:59

Nanjamoyle is where I pointed out that there's no gas station, no medical care, no grocery store. That is horrific. I I I'll say again, I was in Annapolis and I repeated that. And the delegate clutched her pearls and was like, here we are in the 21st century. But I moved to back to Bryan's Road and Nini in here, where there is, in my opinion, massive opportunity for economic development, and we have failed the area. Even things as simple as holding landlords, commercial landlords accountable. I had someone come to me and say, Sheryl, you know, you you shouldn't say that this amount of rent is too much. I mean, you just shouldn't do it. It doesn't feel right. I've had I've learned some things here. Let me be clear. No one on in Brian's Road should be paying $6,000 for anything. The fact that Charles County has done nothing to hold landlord accountable baffles me. But I'm gonna give you some good news. Somebody must have heard that Cheryl is out here railing on PGM right now because of what I've seen in District 2, and I can only imagine it being in other places in Charles County, that it is alarming and it is upsetting that dreamers, you know, I told you the last time I call entrepreneurs dreamers, that the dreamers have gone, has come to District 2 to establish businesses that are necessary for our everyday life. Food, physical upkeep, hair, you know, the whole thing. They've gone to this area where they have found affordable leasing, and yet the county has failed to make sure that the HVAC, electricity, and plumbing meet some code at all. Do hear that a dreamer in a district that I'm running in has taken all of their money to make sure that they are ready for the first six months of business and the funds that they did set aside to do the interior renovation, if you will, all has gone to HVAC, plumbing, and electricity. This county ought to be ashamed of itself for failing its county dreamers. That's what I'm gonna say. And I'm going to say that while I understand that that message has resonated and it is making its way and its rounds to where it needs to be, we're nowhere, in my opinion. And yes, for the folks over at the office that are listening, I understand that the landlord has come down to fix the parking lot that has now put the dreamer one more time out of business because the county says that the dreamer cannot open its doors until the parking lot is fixed. I'm gonna kick it up a notch for the county that is paying attention because I want you to hear me clearly. That the folk here trust me. My neighbors trust me. I got the call. No one from the office was down there to make sure that they said the first thing we want you to do is clear the area so we can fully see the entire pothole. And then once you fill the pothole, we'll be back before you do any top coating to make sure that what you are using to repair the parking, the parking lot with is up to Paul. I was not there. I've not been able to confirm with some folks down there that I trust. But let me tell you what I've heard. They filled it with concrete and then covered it black. Where is the county? I want what I just said to be not true. I want what I said, just said to not be true. But this is what I have said on the campaign trail where that accountability by the govern by the county is lacked. Did you catch that?

SPEAKER_00 54:00

Yeah. You know what? Say it one more time for the people in the back.

SPEAKER_02 54:04

I'm gonna say it one more time for the people in the back. Here is what I've said on the campaign where the county is lacking. I use this situation down here in Brian's road where we should be really strong in economic development. I mean, we did just give permission for a private airport. What wouldn't it be something if we had made some kind of arrangement with a med star or a loonist to have a trauma center on 210 where all the trauma seems to happen? Seeing as though we do have a private airport, we could put a helipad there to move people and things faster, which is a is a headquarters because it's a 24-hour facility, which means jobs are there 24 hours a day, which means restaurants and and and a light comes there. Okay, I'm drifting, but you get the point. I'm gonna bring it back. I'm gonna pull her back, pull her back. It said on a campaign trail to all my neighbors and friends who own homes, bought new homes. We don't have folk who are coming out from the county side that are saying, before you finish A and get to B, we have to come out and inspect A to make sure it meets the mark. And when that doesn't happen, we have situations like we do at the parkland where everybody, of adult communities, up in arms, fighting tooth and nail about what needs to happen, what's gotta happen, and it's not happening. I will say it again, over and over and over again. For me, this is not a developer issue. This is a county issue that doesn't understand the capacity of holding contractors accountable. That that is what I I believe at. I believe that they are responsible to make sure homes are built well, parking lots are handled properly, landlords have electrical panels in their facilities that not, that is not 45 years old. They have a responsibility to make sure that those two, those three major components are up to date so that the dreamer can dream. I'll tell you, I'm sick that bad acts is out of Charles County. Those women deserve better. They had no business putting an AC system in place for a landlord. They had no business doing that.

SPEAKER_00 56:14

Wait, wait, can you talk about that some more? I haven't heard about that.

SPEAKER_02 56:16

What I understand is that the women of bad acts put together a family. Bad acts, right. Wow, okay. And I want to give a shout out to black women who keep it pushing, okay? Because that's what they did. They came here, they bought us something to the community that we deserve, that we could enjoy, but they also had the responsibility of maintaining someone else's dream, which is the dreamer who decided I'm gonna get this facility and I'm gonna, I'm gonna let people rent it out. No, now this I have a very good accord, that they had put an AC on the roof. Who says it is okay? I don't care about the notion that when a landlord rents to you, you know, you're responsible and you need to read your contract and make sure the gut, the county should step in and say, here are things we're not gonna let you put in. Because we've got to protect us too. Because guess what? What if the county said the 45-year-old electrical box that should have been gone 45 years ago? What if that slipped past, that building caught on fire, and the volunteer fire department was out of service? My God. Let's just, let's make it all make sense. Now I'm gonna say this. I know it's gonna be a whole lot of people clutching at pearls, some people sitting in office with directors behind your name, a commissioner behind your name, and you're in an uproar right now. It'll be okay. Fix it. You're in an uproar right now. I want you to bring it down, collect yourself, and fix it. Because I can assure you, if I was the girl that was voting in, you would be fixing it. Because in lieu of fixing it, I'd be telling the entire county who should be held accountable for not fixing it. That's where we are. You ain't signed up for this, Carlo Shall, you did not.

SPEAKER_00 58:01

I and I'm but I'm glad I have a front rail ticket to it. Uh it is that is that is wild, but you're right. Our our county is kind, or not kind of, it is. It's allowing landlords, whether residential or commercial, to kind of come in and run things. We don't have protections for renters, whether that be you're you're renting a commercial property or whether you're renting a house or an apartment. It's it's just astonishing and crazy to hear on this podcast talking to some to some people, just weirdly not understanding how rent stabilization works, not really understanding how like protections for uh for uh a property owners work, how how how the renting system works, seeing seeing so many people just never been renters before, and then talking about it as if like, well, you know, it's your business, so you know you should figure it out, and things of that nature too, or just not knowing what they're gonna do getting in into office, which kind of brings me to my next thing with the people who you did see who won office, whether that being Brandon Paul and yourself in central committee. Actually, no, let's separate that. I want to ask you about central committee, uh, really quickly. As someone who served on the central committee for what, all of two months that I was on there for until I resigned in happiness, um, I want to ask you what what's the reason you ran for central com committee and also what do you want to do? Because I'll say this as someone who came in, once I got elected to central committee, I wrote an op-ed in the Southern Maryland News talking about what I want to see the uh central committee do now. Hold hold more uh town halls and forums with our uh elected Democrats to talk about, hey, what bills are you putting in? I wanted to start a legislative uh group with the Central Committee. I I was pushing to have debates with Republican candidates so that we can actually have have some kind of like conversation go on. Yes, the Republicans don't really win in Charles County, but let's actually show people why voting for the candidates actually helped. And then also it keeps our candidates on their toes. It's too many of them who feel so relaxed that I don't have to show up. Honestly, these forums are the most you really see out of candidates or people in office really ever. What are some of the, because I already can tell you, once I put out that op-ed, I had three people on the Central Committee contact me and say, Carlos, you don't want to understand what the Central Committee does. It does not do all this. All we do is support Democrats, and we go on about our day. I've talked to previous central committees personally, and they say a lot of people who are on there, they just show up to take some pictures with an with an elected official or just wait until a current member dies, resigns from office, or leaves so that they can be appointed to their seat. What are some things that that you want to do coming into that position that you don't see are happening already?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:43

Well, I don't intend to get tired, but I may tire out some folks. For me, it is holding delegation accountable. For me, it is making sure the delegation understands from the Democratic Central Committee what the people are asking for. I'll give you an example because I've been kind of moling over. I'm seeing so much crime. It's just a lot of crime, right? Um I was in conversation with someone and they was like, you know, we have a primary physician that works out of Brian's robe, but the challenge that they have is it's so much drugs. And I was like, what? And then it just made me kind of, you know, just drug activity, just too much activity around that particular office. And so I'm thinking to myself, what would one do with that? And so I started researching, and I do have a research team, and it's not AI people. I actually have some brain power and asked them to pull up the uh drug-free-free zone for schools. I asked them to find out if we could, if it was possible to expand that to cover drug-free areas around hospitals, medical facilities, and public safety. Don't get caught doing anything you don't have to. Public, and believe it or not, public safety was very important because there was a store here in County who was selling urine. No one really knows why. But I think that if we could expand that drug-free zone out legislatively, I think it's going to be responsible for everybody. And I don't feel like it's gonna be a lot of pushback in Annapolis because this is not a Charles County issue. This is a matter that needs to be addressed just everywhere in terms of making sure that there are areas that we will absolutely not have disruption that would prevent a person from receiving services in a healthy environment, right? So that is that is where I am to answer the question. It is to find out before legislation begins, because you know there's a summer session too in Anabolis. I want to know what you're doing in summer session. Are you going this summer session?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:49

There's a special session actually coming up too in August.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:52

Right? What's what's being teed up for us to go after? But that's one of the things that uh I am interested in. Um I'm interested in now, figuring out. Let me let me also say this. I think that the voters made a a wise decision in Abina McAllister. I want everyone to know that I did not know Abina prior to this, but I'm telling you, she and I have had hours, it feels like months of conversation. And I am staunchly, if my gut is right and it doesn't fail me often, she's our girl. She's gonna, she's gonna make a way to put us first. She already has the theme that the senior delegate, if you will, says that we don't, which is partnerships. I've talked to some other people that I know in Annapolis because I know people there. I think this is gonna be a good fit. I think we have an opportunity. I think that the best way to support delegate McAllister, Patterson, and Davis, as well as CT holding us down in the Senate, who I do love the pieces too, we have got to hold them accountable. We've got to know as the Democratic Central Committee what they're doing down there, why they are doing it down there, and be able to articulate to the county its benefit. If we cannot do those things, we are a dysfunctional Democratic Central Committee, and I don't do dysfunction. And so that that is, I'm excited about that part. And I gotta tell you, I've been doing some thinking. I was talking to uh the gentleman who heads up my research team, and I did that, believe it or not, before I ran. I, and I I want you, I pay money for those services. And uh he and I was talking and he said, you know, and and he says this affectionately. You know what, boss? I don't care if you, you, okay, you didn't win the commission um seat, but this is the more powerful seat. Based upon the type of government that you all have with code home rule, commission needs you there to move their agenda in the county. I said, hmm, you see, yes, the legislator. The legislation is where we go down and we do what we need to do. The commission has to go to our delegation to move anything monetarily. You got your finger on the pulse. Yeah. I what I will say is, is uh I think it's it's it's a it's a dynamic that I'm interested in. I would have loved to hold both of those seats, greedy me, but it is true I would. But I'm excited about where I am. I'm excited about who's sitting in the seat because I am going to do my level best to make sure Brandon is not distracted by long-term politicians. I want Brandon to do what Brandon told me he he is going to do. I believe he and his wife who have come to the family. Who himself is a long term enough to do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:38

You said I said who himself is a long term politician?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:41

The question is who is not. But there are long term politicians that can certainly apply pressure to to the mayor, the mayor of a small town, to get them to understand something that may not be in our best interest. And so uh I am glad to still be around and to to, you know, if needed. Need be and I believe that Brandon would be amenable to it for me to say, Are you sure? Look at it from this way. Are you sure? You sure you sure? And so, yeah, I'm excited about it. The opportunity to be on a Democratic Central Committee. I I have made some, some folks have contacted me. I've contacted some folks. And I'm I'm I'm excited about what this what this means. Um, and we'll start with the mission, I'm sure of it. Because that's exactly what I'm gonna hold everybody accountable for. I'll say it again. Before I ran for office, before I thought about any of these things, I was a taxpayer with a job that met all the needs that I have, and I am still that person today, just with a new opportunity to serve the county by way of the Democratic Central Committee, and I'm honored by that. I want to thank everyone who voted for me for that. I want to thank Kevin Harris because he was a part of that victory. I want to thank Amanda Stewart, who put me on. And listen, I'm gonna say this. I'm going to say some names, and I want to thank Amanda because Amanda said Democratic Central Committee, I could see Cheryl there, right? Let me tell you this. And I want, I, this is a good way to think about everything. You can get support from a lot of different places. And maybe that support, you're thinking, why in the world would anybody want to be supported by that person? Let me say this the person they supported is not changing. So you may find out that you supported me and I'm getting ready to do what I do best, right? But I gotta be grateful the fact that you saw fit enough to put me here, right? So that I could do and participate with other people who I am hopeful and prayerful want to do what is best for this county. So for those people who supported me without trepidation and said that we think she would be a good fit, I owe them a debt of gratitude. And that is served by a mere thank you. It doesn't guarantee, because I don't follow anybody. I've been a leader for as long as I can remember. I'm too old to follow too much at this point. So don't let the good skin fool you, thank you to Korean skincare. But other than that, yeah, I am who I am. And I just, I respectfully and humbly thank those two people who could have made any other kind of decision, but they didn't. They they said yes to me. And I also want to thank the sitting chair who called me because I had sure did. I had a touch of vertigo, and there was a breakfast that was um being held to bring those who were successful in their race and those who were not, just a unity breakfast. I was not able to make it, and I wanted to be clear to um the sitting president that it was not because I did not want to come. It was not that I was too busy to come. It wasn't any of those things. It was a medical reason and I could not come. And I made that a crystal clear because that is the level of maturity and accountability that I had. And so while I had the moment, please do not cut out this pause. Not at all. Let me thank the people. You can cut out all some other stuff, you know, that may be detrimental, but never. I just want to say that. So that's that's what I'll give the awesome, awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:13

Kind of rounding it out with the central committee part. Um the Unity Breakfast, nice, all that. You know, shout out to the people who put that stuff, that stuff together. To me, it's always, I don't know. To me, it's always funny to see these kind of like like unity events to bring people together, even though kind of as knowing some of the behind-the-scenes things, know some of it's fake too. Of these people just don't like each other personality-wise, family-wise as well. But kind of, I want to actually two things on the central committee as kind of issues that people see at this moment is one thing people are concerned about is um appointments. Because one one rumor that has that has been going around is that delegate uh Edith Patterson may uh uh throughout her next term step down, resign, and the central committee may move may may move to to put uh Ralph Ralph uh Patterson, her son, into that seat. I want to just ask you now, is that something that you are opposed to doing? And then also, do you think think that the the central committee should not have that power to do appointments? It should be a special election.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:12

I think that the central committee should have the power to do it. And and here's why. A special election would be would be good. And and uh I think a special election would be good. It's let me go back, because I want to just make sure that I I crystallize this the way that that I feel comfortable with. I think that the Democratic Central Committee should be an appointing body because it should consist of people who have the best interests of the county at heart. It should have, if it is doing its job, it knows the appointee that it is considering and it can support it to the community based in fact. This is why I say that. Um, in terms of that specific dynamic, I do not believe that because you were married to someone, when you get sick or pass away, the spouse should get the seat. That if you are a mom whose son you have assisted with a political career should automatically get your seat. I don't believe in that. I don't believe in nepotism in any shape, form, or fashion. I don't believe that seats of power are gifts. This is not a gift. My tax is not a gift for her son, my grandson, or anybody else's relative to be seated for that purpose only. Here is a guy who ran unopposed and only got 4,000 votes. The county had that district has spoken.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:46

Which also, I'll say, a point is a knack, is a knack towards the central committee, too, who's supposed to be responsible with finding candidates to run for office and getting people engaged. And not just Ralph Patterson ran uh unopposed, you had the school board seats, which were vacant. No one filed until the last day, and only two people filed. So that's those those two people automatically get it.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:08

Well, I I I want to say something about that because everything that you said is true. But we said something early on in this conversation that's that is also true and probably even more important. Without those meetings that you were discussing, without calendared times where the community can come, I don't, it doesn't make a difference or two or three people come, but you must have it on a calendar that these meetings are going to happen, right? Because if these meetings are happening, then we have a better chance of saying we've got vacancy on the school board and we're looking for some folks for the school board, right? There's a vacancy for this position here, and we're looking for someone to fill that position. I think when we are not communicating for whatever reason, it is unacceptable. It is unacceptable for anyone that is supposed to be a steward, good steward of our money and our community to be irresponsible with communication. There are so many ways now to communicate. There's so many ways. There is, there is no reason for why the community is not well versed in what is needed when it is time to fill important positions like school board, if a delegate steps down. I think that that is that is key. So that would be my answer to that. That no, I don't believe that just because your last name is the same as the person who was sitting there, you should be provided a seat. No, I don't think that. I think that with all of the kerfuffle that happened, you know, how does a person be removed by the state, get back on, gotten back off, I changed my mind. That's not what I want for my representation. No one ever even spoke of what was it all about? I'm still in Bimba. So the.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:57

And then there's an open meetings act violation.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:59

Yeah. If you are, what did you say it was?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:01

And now there's an um open meetings act violation that the uh Board of Elections actually had by uh having that meeting privately.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:07

And so here we are with something as silly and as that. I'll tell you what, this is a shout out to all the common ownership board of directors, my HOAs, condos, everywhere. This is a prime example why management makes sure that you all understand the importance of your meetings, whether it is an open board of directors meeting, a closed session by executive and the open meeting act. This is why we drill down to avoid things like this where your own government. And one would have to ask, really, was it an accident? Because how can you, how can that be an accident? Lawyers are involved in this. But even more importantly, how how how do we address a situation like this and no one really knows what happened? That lack of communication alone would prevent me from supporting anyone affiliated with. Because if you did nothing wrong, then you're willing to talk about it. You know, I just I didn't, I I I I should have gone in and and redid my paperwork. Yeah, I I was staying outside of the county. These are just examples. I was staying out of the county, but my real address is over here. I mean, why have so much speculation out there when you can just address it and walk away? Because in fact, if you told the truth about the situation, you still maintained your seat. There's no reason for anyone to figure it out. Who you it is, it is self-reputation sabotage. I don't want that person representing me anywhere. And I don't want anybody affiliated representing me or my money anywhere. Anywhere. I was at a meeting and I figured that the delegate uh had heard that I was displeased by the fact that they live in District 2, and yet District 2 is not an economic powerhouse. It's not a good thing. Well, real quick, which delegate, because all three of them live in District 2, said, and that we are not, we are where we are today. I I am comfortable with that group understanding my displeasure in that alone, that you can live in a district and not do everything within your power to make sure that it is the greatest place to live along with the rest of the county. But to absolutely ignore it is beyond anything I can imagine. I was at a forum and the delegate came in, the senior delegate came in, and I was answering a question in the forum about a program, about a trust that I sit on for the state and that the work it was doing. And one of the candidates asked me, are you saying that you did this on your own and that no commissioner or delegate assisted you? Why, why would it, why? You don't ask candidates questions, right? Because you're gonna get the answer. I said, absolutely not. I said they did not. I said, as a matter of fact, I called my commissioner and the senior delegate, and they knew nothing about it. Told me they would look into it, never heard from them again. Thank God in June, the trust approved another $2.5 million to assist with areas like Nanjamoy that are in dire need of support, right? What if I did not know that or I wasn't in a position to assist the way that is needed there? I'll tell you this, don't cut it out. The delegate came in threw her stuff on the front row, look me dead in the face, rolled her eyes. All I could do was chuckle. Because if what I'm saying about what I will acknowledge about you or anyone who is operating in the same capacity rubs you that far the wrong way, I must be right, and you need to be doing something different, right? I have no problem saying those things. I have no problem meeting that delegate, just woman to woman, because you cannot convey to me a reason how you can live and allow others to live in Nanjamoy that way when you come from deep down south 80 years ago. There is no reason for that. And what do we continue to do? We continue to hit these same names because we know them, not because they perform for us because they don't, because we know the name. If we don't get outside and get away from that and take the time, if you don't show up at a forum and you got a neighbor that does ask your neighbor to tell you what happened at the forum. If you are in a HOA or a condo or anything like this, an apartment community, tell management, tell your board, we need to have a um community liaison. That is the person that shows up to Democratic Central Committee meetings. That is the person that's gonna show up to the forums during election time and tell the community this person may not be in our best interest. This is not a person that is an opportunist, by the way. They were out there too, this election cycle. They didn't win anything, but they were out there. They ran, but they didn't win anything, but they were out there. This is not about opportunists. This is not about people pretending to have expert level knowledge in areas that they don't. You want to make it. This is not people who say that they know about your homes and being able to deal with a a party that they have no expertise. They don't.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:26

Uh well, Cheryl, Cheryl, real quick, you want to name some names of these people who you're talking about? They're not. I think you can. You think you can.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:34

I get on these roles.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:35

What they say, it's just, it's just, look, it's just you and me here.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:39

So what I will say is that I've had some community members come to me and give me some advice that was shared with them by the Alliance. And I'm gonna say this about the Alliance. I have a sister that serves on the Alliance that I love to pieces. Like me or not, I I kind of navigate to really good people. And while I've been here for 25 years, I don't know all of the things that people say about other people. And I want to be clear, I'm uninterested. I take the time to get to know people myself so that I can I can stand 10 toes down on what I believe based upon what I've come to know. That's just who I am. I'll be that play, be that person until the day I leave this earth. No one can convince me of any anyone or anybody. I'll I'll take that on myself. And so I get calls about different areas in my profession. As I said to everybody, I work for the largest residential property management firm in this country. No one's bigger than us. I hold an executive level position there and I'm trusted in that position because I've taken the time over the years to master my craft. And so it is concerning to me when anyone pretends to have that same level of education and knowledge when they don't. I have and do work for every single developer there is. And because I have the ability to communicate with them the way that I do, I am the founder of the Builders Roundtable, as I shared on the campaign trail. It is where I can speak with the developers, tell them what the community says, even, you know, talk about specific projects that they're working on and what is alarming to the community and what can we do XYZ, XYZ. That is a capacity in which I have. The Alliance does not have that capacity. It just doesn't. I am fond of the Alliance because the sister that I do have who operates really out of a place of I really want to help. She and I talk a lot. We've had conversations about some key folks from Annapolis coming to Charles County to talk about the actual laws and how it applies. That is important. But I don't like folks who are, what's the term? It's it's it's very flashy now. Imposters. I don't like impostors because impostors are dangerous. When we give over our information and become a part of a group and help any individual build a database with no real responsible education behind it, that's a problem. Because now you're taking a chance. You only get one shot with a developer. You either know what you're talking about or you don't. But when they find the gap, you're over, right? So it's over. You can come to me, you can come to the developer and talk a hole in their head about, let's say, uh, my foundation. Okay. You said what you said. You have no knowledge to base anything on. You're, you're, you're talking on behalf of someone else. Thank you for sharing and goodnight. That is, that is what we're getting here. We don't need that. I think that the Alliance is a great resource. I think that it has to be measured. It is not an operating pool of industry knowledge and information, and it should be there. And I'm gonna also say this it is, it I guess necessary for if the community needs to have a place to go to for someone to assist them. But what is baffling to me is that I also sit on the homeowner's resolution dispute board. That is their job. That, that, the commission and I am going to talk to our new chair, about revamping that. That should be where people go to talk about their concerns with their build. They should be talking about their concerns with their boards. They should be able to have some kind of liaison between the developer and that office to help move the issue and the matter to a close. All of those things should be there. So I guess what I'm saying is we have some tools for the community to use and they should, they should be well versed in its use. Now, that particular board, there are some things that I am going to really fight hard to correct. One of them is that in order to come before the board for a hearing, there's a fee, right? It's upward of $1,000. Wow. And that fee is absurd. To me, it is dangerous because if I have an issue with my board and I'm coming to this county dispute resolution board for resolution, I should not have to pay to be heard for two reasons. One, I'm a taxpayer. And two, I've been paying assessments to my HO, who is going to show up with the attorney. My assessments have gone towards helping. So I'm coming with no representation because I can't afford that because I'm paying for the for the community to have representation. There should be no fee for me.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:46

You're paying for the representation against you.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:48

There should be no fee for me. And so I want us to correct that immediately. Like there should be no daylight between this that I will bring to the new chair when she is sworn in and implementation. It should be immediate. There are a million and one ways to find money because I've been on PGM's website and everything in this county has a has a has a dollar sign attached to it. So we're not losing any sleep over this particular piece because I can tell you that while I've been on it for quite some time, we've probably only dealt with maybe four cases. Are you telling me that in a county that I have just run in, everybody's up in arms about their new builds or what is happening in their HOA, that four cases alone is on? No. That means that I don't have the thousand dollars to get out.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:35

Or people don't even know about this board at all. Or I think it's that. I think it's the combination of what you just said about the thousand dollars. I think it's also a combination of people feeling like I don't, I don't think that they're gonna do anything. And it's kind of similar to how you see police accountability boards throughout throughout throughout the state. You have a lack of people who even uh submit complaints to them for the thought of you're not gonna do anything anyway. And there was a this is a separate podcast, but Cheryl, this has been amazing. This is amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Look, my podcast is successful because of my amazing co-hosts that come on here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Cheryl, do you want to leave the people with any last comment? But also, since I know you haven't said that you you're still looking at just possibilities next four years, and who that feels like it's a long time away, but somehow is never a long time away. I want to ask you lastly, as you give your final thoughts, uh, is just do you have any words of encouragement, words of just possibilities for the incoming set of elected uh officials throughout the whole uh county? And just uh how can people follow you on social media, stay in contact with you, keep up to date with all the all the things that you have your hands in?

SPEAKER_02 1:26:43

What I will say to all my neighbors and friends is don't tire out. We're all tired. And we're watching it on all national news, we're watching it locally. I believe that's why the voter turnout was so low. Because we're tired. Don't get tired. You've got to find a way to recharge because if you're tired, the wrong people get in. And when the wrong people get in, it all goes wrong. We know this, but history has shown us this over and over and over again. Find a way to recharge. Align yourself now to what you want your future to look like. Now is the time to do it. Keep listening, listen, listen for the things that perfectly, perfectly, not almost perfectly, align with your vision. We are a schmedium county that is growing rapidly. We continue to build homes as we are right now. We have a lot of apartments that are extremely expensive. There is a lot happening here, but change is there. And it happens when we make the best decisions by majority of knowledgeable people who will do the hard work to make sure that it happens. To my family who have come from Prince George's County, welcome to Charles County. This is an opportunity for each one of you to participate in this county business at ground level for the most part. So that all of the things that you moved here to capture and to get right and to want better, it is now time to get it done. I will also say that while I don't know what I am going to do up next outside of serve in a responsible and respectful role that you can count on as a Democratic Central Committee member, I would ask for you to stay engaged with me. For anyone who has disagreed with anything that I've said today, I welcome the disagreement because it is only through that can I understand your position to determine if a new one for me should exist. You will find me all the time on Cheryl C-H-E-R-Y-L for Charles County because I am. That is the handle for all social media. Cheryl 4 Charles County. You will find me on my website because I'm not taking it down at vote Sheryl ButlerHyphenwalker.com. Just so that you all know, I'm really not a video girl, so I don't engage in that often. I have in the past, and if something strikes my spirit, if the if the soul says say it, you're gonna see a video come out. But uh stay engaged with me, talk to me, tell me where you disagree. Just remember that I believe in civility. Whatever you have to say to me, do it with civility. I'm gonna respect you and I'm gonna ask that you respect me. And together we're gonna find some space to be in. Either it's in the middle, or I'm gonna lean to the left or the right, but when I when I walk away, I want you all to remember this. There is never an all-time political enemy. There is never a forever, that's right, a forever political enemy. There is never a forever um enemy neighbor. There will always be forever opportunities for us to find a way to work together, and that's what I'm after. So to that, I say thank you to Carlos Childs and his amazing podcast. I love you beyond the moon. You are a perfect representation for your generation. I want you and Michaela and Taja to keep pushing. Taja, call me because I gotta bring you off the cliff. But other than that, I love you three. Keep doing it, keep saying it out loud, hold us accountable. And at any point in time, you want to get in the race, call me first so that I can do my part fiscally and soundly. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:46

Thank you, thank you. You all, Cheryl Butler Walker. And you all remember, remember for closing out. This is a podcast. We are back. So don't forget to like, share, subscribe, rate us five stars, send this to your friends, family, and as always, hit that notification bell so you can get alerted every time we drop a new episode. You all, we are back in full action. It's so glad to be here with you again. And I'll see you next time on the left hand left.